AstraZeneca use can continue pending blood clot probe: EMA

THE HAGUE: European countries can keep using AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine during an investigation into cases of blood clots that prompted Denmark, Norway and Iceland to suspend jabs, the EU's drug regulator said on Thursday.

There had been 30 cases of 'thromboembolic events' among five million people who've had the jab so far in Europe, the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement.

"The position of EMA's safety committee... is that the vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing," the EMA said.

"There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine."

Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots.

The EMA said Denmark's decision was a "precautionary measure while a full investigation is ongoing into reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccine, including one case in Denmark where a person died".

Of the 30 blood-clot cases across Europe, it said that "the number of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people is no higher than the number seen in the general population".

The EMA covers the 27-nation EU plus Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein.

Italy's medicine regulator said Thursday it was banning a batch of the AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccine over the issue.

Austria announced it had suspended the use of a different AstraZeneca batch, after a 49-year-old nurse died of severe blood coagulation days after receiving the shot.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg have also suspended the use of the same batch as Austria.